Learning to be 'Normal'
by DragonLadyKira
Summary: {PG just in case.} The wizarding world is dealt an interesting hand. Many people have gone missing, and now it's the Order's job to find them. But who are the Clairmores and what do they have to do with anything? H/G obvious in later chapters..
1. Introducing Alison Clairmore

Learning to be 'Normal' Chapter One By Jess  
  
~*~  
  
I picked up the book intended for my reading assignment, due tomorrow. I read out loud the first part, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I snapped the book shut again and hurled it against my bedroom wall.  
  
Some people are quite content to be 'normal', as they would only call it. I, on the other hand, am not. People like my neighbors, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, would be very happy to live at their house on Privet Drive. They would be quite happy to be non-magic and do everything the hard way. I am not.  
  
I live at 5 Privet Drive with my parents, Jacob and Lydia Clairmore. I am almost eighteen years old and I attend the public academy. My hair, thanks to continual color treatments, is a dark brown color with slight red highlights like my mom's; which is also color treated. My eyes are now a pristine blue, due to colored contacts. The same color as my dad's; he also wears colored contacts. You see, in the beginning, which I am getting to, my original hair color was the same as my mum's was. And my eyes were the same color as my dad's were. But because we didn't want to be found by the world we'd just escaped from, we had to change.  
  
So now I lead a normal life, as normal as it can be with neighbors like the Dursleys. But it wasn't always that way.  
  
~*~ It was late one night, one single moonbeam shone in through the window onto the rug in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. I don't remember why I was up, but I do remember him coming down the stairs after I'd been seated on the couch in front of the dying fire for hours. When he came down those stairs leading up to the boys' dormitory, my heart stopped, and maybe his did too. He paused for a moment before seating himself next to me and pulling me close to him. Reaching up, he toyed with the strands of my hair. His hand faltered and I wondered briefly if it was from exhaustion or something else more consuming.  
  
If I could freeze time, that's the moment I would have. With the fire casting shadows across his face and his lips hovering so close to mine I could feel his breath fanning across my face. If could have frozen time, I wouldn't be where I am now.  
  
But I can't freeze time and the kisses ended. I fell asleep there in his arms, if I hadn't, would I have heard him leave? Would I have questioned his intent? Would I have prevented some of it? Would I have gone with him and supported him? Would I have the chance to say, 'I love you.' Maybe I would have.  
  
But I did fall asleep and I didn't hear him leave. And with the exception of a select few, my family among them, neither did anyone else. No one heard him gather his troops and map out the plan in the quiet of the entrance hall. No one heard them steal away and meet the enemy on the grounds of the school. No one heard the first curses thrown that dawn, but everyone was woken rather rudely with the first explosion.  
  
The students ran to the nearest window to see what caused such a sound. Apparently the Astronomy tower had been blown right off. When students figured out why, many ran and hid. Some joined the fray, one for either side. There were adults fighting adults, students fighting students, curses and shields being thrown, and bodies falling silently to the ground. I ran down to the field when I spotted my family. The mortal enemy to our world raised his wand and personally took out each of my family members with an 'Avada Kedavra'. I'd never been so mortally terrified and anguished at the same time.  
  
The very person I'd fallen asleep next to a few hours ago stood before that creature. That thing pulled out his wand and shouted one more 'Avada Kedavra'. My love raised his own wand and muttered a curse at the same time. The words of his curse went in one ear and out another. But what happened next astounded me; as my love's body fell to the ground lifeless, the creature was pulled into his own wand and the bodies of those killed by his wand disappeared. The headmaster of our school picked up the wand of his enemy and snapped it in half and in half again. I turned on heel and ran.  
  
I didn't know where I was running to, and I half realized that I'd dropped my wand somewhere back behind me, but I didn't care. I kept running until I realized I was in a clearing just outside of the town our school was located next to. The next thing I knew a couple had apparated right in front of me. They glanced down at me and the woman knelt to my level.  
  
"Is it safe at the school?"  
  
I shook my head, tears still coursing down my face. That being's followers were still hanging about. She smiled at me and spoke to the man in hushed tones. Once again she approached me.  
  
"Are you alone?"  
  
The tears fell fresh when I nodded in affirmation. He reached out to pat my shoulder and I crossed my arms as if to somehow hold my pain in my hands and make it more bearable.  
  
"We're going to go into hiding of sorts. You're welcome to come with us. We'd be like a family; it'd be our cover. Does that sound good to you?"  
  
I stared at her blankly for a moment or two before nodding slowly. She smiled again and I found it hard not to smile back at her through my tears.  
  
"We won't use our real names of course, and we won't ask you yours for confidentiality reasons. But my name is going to be Lydia Clairmore and this is my husband Jacob Clairmore. And you are our beautiful daughter."  
  
It took me a minute to think of something suitable. "Alison. I'm your fifteen, almost sixteen year old daughter Alison Clairmore."  
  
She held out her hand and I took it and we walked for a long time. ~*~  
  
Two years ago I went from being who I'd been for so long to Alison Clairmore. I'm not sure what happened to the world I'd left, the wizarding world. I suppose I'll never know.  
  
A knock came at my door and I opened it, revealing my mum.  
  
"Ali, what was that sound?"  
  
I looked to my book lying in a heap on the floor on the other side of the room and shrugged. She sighed, frustrated.  
  
"Ali," she warned me. I knew that if I didn't own up now to throwing my book she'd ring it out of me with her motherly ways and I'd never hear the end of it for not telling the truth.  
  
"I threw that stupid 'A Tale of Two Cities' book. I hate it and I got bored with it."  
  
My mum gave me a look that said I was being ridiculous and I needed to knock it off, clean my room, and do my homework. All in one look, Mum's amazing, I'm telling you. She tutted at me and went back to cooking whatever it was that smelled so good downstairs. I would have ventured downstairs then, but it was too risky, with Mum irritated and all.  
  
I heard a car pull up that signaled the return of my dad and smiled as Mum greeted him at the door with a 'Did you have a good day, dear?' and a lingering kiss. I leaned against my doorframe and listened to my parents be in love and smiled. Maybe being 'normal' wasn't so bad after all.  
Author's Notes: Eeep! Keep with me, things are bound to get more interesting soon, I promise! Everyone's true identities soon, though I'm sure most of you have some pretty good guesses. 


	2. But Life Has Gone On

Learning to be 'Normal' Chapter Two By Jess  
  
~*~  
  
It was half past six when I walked into the flat I shared with my best mate, Ron Weasley. I threw my cloak onto the chair next to the door and loosened my tie. It was the third Friday of April and I was in no mood for the usual 'meal from a can' dinner Ron and I had been eating since what seemed like forever.  
  
In the living room Ron's tall frame was spread across the sofa and the wireless was tuned to the Quidditch match between the Cannons and the Bats. As usual, the Cannons were being pummeled and Ron was simply devastated. I never understood why it hurt him so much every time they lost. It was a good thing it didn't cause him anymore agony than it already did or he'd have been dead long ago.  
  
I dropped my tie in his face and he threw it back at me.  
  
"Hey Harry. How was work?"  
  
I sighed in exasperation. Even after the fall of Voldemort two years ago, there were still people that tried to follow his image blindly. Death Eater fractions were getting easier to catch, but no less deadly. "It was.interesting. How 'bout you?"  
  
Ron worked for the Ministry, the Department for Magical Games and Sports. He jumped up and went into another one of his endless monologues about how the weight of Bludgers was being debated. Sometimes I see a little of Percy in him. I listened out of one ear, noting only what could serve me a purpose later.  
  
The doorbell rang and Ron stopped in mid-sentence and made a mad dash for the door. A moment later he reappeared with my good friend and his girlfriend, Hermione Granger. Hermione was dressed up rather nicely, her hair tame for once.  
  
Ron was the slow one, still is sometimes. I realize I was a bit blind in not noticing Ginny before I did in my fifth year, something I regret even to this day. But Ron didn't discern his feelings for Hermione until the middle of our sixth year. When he finally came around, they had a love like no other, but the time between was agony to anyone that got caught anywhere near one of their rows.  
  
Ron winked at me and whispered as he reached for my discarded tie, "I might see you later tonight."  
  
I raised an eyebrow at my friend. "Might?"  
  
He grinned cheekily and made a show of escorting Hermione out of the door. She gave a small wave in my direction before giving into Ron. I, on the other hand, was left with the Quidditch game and my thoughts. My mind drifted back to just about two years ago, the fall of Voldemort.  
  
~*~ At about eleven o'clock the night before I knew Voldemort was going to storm the school, I couldn't sleep. I'd tried; I closed my eyes, I counted sheep, I drank warm milk, I'd even paced. But my mind was restless; I dressed in a pair of Dudley's old, faded trousers and a jumper and went down to the common room.  
  
Intending to visit Dobby in the kitchens, I was distracted when a streak of gold near the Common Room fireplace caught my eye. I found my girlfriend of a little over a year watch watching the fire as it slowly burned out. She turned to me and my step faltered. I loved those huge, chocolate eyes, especially when she turned them towards me in a way that I felt I could see straight down into her soul.  
  
I sat down beside her and pulled her close, I stroked her hair and murmured quiet, love things that I no longer remember. My hand wavered in her hair; what would it be like if I lost her tomorrow? Would I be able to go on?  
  
I wanted to tell her everything so badly right then, to tell her how much I knew and how she could protect herself incase the wrong side prevailed. But I couldn't. No one outside of the Order could have preemptive information. So instead, I held her until her breathing evened out and her muscles relaxed.  
  
Just before dawn broke, I left the safety of the circle of her arms to meet with Dumbledore and his legion of teachers, craftsmen, merchants, and homemakers. The plan was being set and the pawns were being placed. I paused then, and stared at this strange group of people that otherwise would have never been all in the same room at the same time and I wondered how many of them would lose their lives that day.  
  
We met Voldemort and his group of Death Eaters, Dementors, and other wild beasts on the front lawn. Our wands were drawn, our potions were made, and our mediwitches were on hand. We stared at each other for what seemed like eternity but what couldn't have been more than thirty seconds. But when the still silence broke, it was hell on earth. Everything remained at a dull roar until one of the Death Eaters' misfired curse missiles struck the Astronomy Tower and sent rubble and debris crashing to the ground.  
  
In a moment of calm, an eye in the storm I could see students with their faces pressed to the glass and others running out of the front doors. But then, for the first time that morning, Voldemort spoke. He sent a slew of Avada Kedavra curses into the group of Weasleys. Arthur, Molly, Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred, and George; all of them were gone in a matter of seconds. My mouth dropped open as I saw the only family I'd ever known fall into a pile of quickly cooling bodies.  
  
I hadn't been sure up until that point if the spell that Hermione had once translated for me out of an Ancient Runes book would ever work. I wasn't even sure if I remembered it properly. Now, I think of the times when in crises normal people can lift cars and such, and I think that's what had to have happened. I couldn't tell you the name of the spell I'd used, I was too busy with the desired result. I became vaguely aware that as my curse was sent his way, a sharp green light blinded my vision and then everything was black.  
  
Waking up in the hospital wing two days later, I was greeted with the image of Dumbledore and the Weasleys clustered around my bed. Madame Pomfrey was shooing the group of familiar redheads out of the room. The kind older man smiled at me, his eyes twinkling. "How do you feel, Harry?"  
  
I groped for the ability to speak in the train wreck that was my mind. "Fine, I think. Can you tell me what's going on?"  
  
Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly and sat on the end of my bed and placed a Locking Charm on the door. "As you were hit by Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse, Voldemort was sucked into his own wand. His wand was destroyed, but your body and many of the other dead on the field disappeared. And one by one, in reverse order of when they were hit with the Killing Curse, they reappeared on to the lawn. You collapsed right away, but some were coherent enough to tell us what they'd seen. But it was Bertha Jorkins that clued us in on what exactly happened."  
  
I sputtered in recognition. "Bertha Jorkins? Wasn't she the witch that was kidnapped and killed by Voldemort in my fourth year?"  
  
Dumbledore nodded again but put his hand out to calm me. "Please, Harry. You must let me finish. Yes, Bertha Jorkins was Voldemort's victim in the summer before your fourth year. But she apparated right into Hogsmeade and came running up to the school not moments after the lot of you reappeared. She told Professor McGonagall and I everything, but the part that got to us was how she re-materialized into the exact spot she last remembered being. And that's when I went into Hogsmeade with Minerva and we apparated to the field the Port Key took you during the Tri- Wizarding Tournament. Sure enough, Cedric Diggory lay spread-eagle out in the grass, much like I suppose he looked like when he died, but now very much alive."  
  
I'd figured out where he was taking all of this long before he got there. "What about Godric's Hollow? Did anyone go there?"  
  
It was then that the ever-present sparkle in the old headmaster's eye died. "Yes, after returning Cedric to the school, Minerva and I went to Godric's Hollow. Your parents weren't there."  
  
I felt as if I'd lost my parents all over again. At just the slight glimmer of hope that I'd finally have my family, something inside had swelled, only to be crushed moments later. I turned my attention and thoughts to other things. "How many did we lose in the end?"  
  
Dumbledore sighed heavily, as if each death weighed him down a little bit more. "We lost twenty-one students: two Slytherins; a third year and a seventh year, six Hufflepuffs; two second years, a sixth year, and a fifth year, four Ravenclaw; three fourth years and a first year, and eight Gryffindors; two first years, a second year, two fourth years, and three seventh years. And only one teacher was lost; Professor Trewlany."  
  
Doing a bit of mental math, I turned a confused face towards the headmaster. "But, sir, that's only twenty students."  
  
He nodded slowly and stood from the edge of my bed. My heart began to palpate. Could it have been Ron? Or was it Hermione? Or worse yet, Ginny, could she have been a casualty? "Sir?"  
  
Dumbledore turned back to me with a grim smile. "Harry, we found the bodies of everyone else on the grounds. But we have one missing. There's no body, no witnesses, no nothing. We've put tracers on her magical signature, but nothing has turned up."  
  
My head was swimming and my hands were shaking. "Sir, who was it?"  
  
"Ginny Weasley."  
  
Instantaneously it felt as if my heart was being turned inside out and someone had blocked my air passages. Finally a strangled sob escaped my throat and released the dam of tears and pain. I'm not sure who let them in, I assume it was Dumbledore, but soon eight redheads and one bushy haired brunette had crowded my bed and enveloping me in tears, hugs, and words of comfort.  
  
~*~  
  
Two years the Order has been searching for the rest of the Death Eaters, establishing a new governmental structure, and cataloging the identity of every witch and wizard's magical signature. The search for Ginny and my parents was placed on the Order's backburner after months of no success.  
  
For a long time it was mind consuming. I slept, ate, and breathed search tactics. I was a machine whose sole purpose was finding ways to locate these people I held dear to me. Eventually, with a lot of cajoling and a soul-bearing from my two best friends, Hermione and the Weasleys pulled me from the funk I'd settled myself into.  
  
Sometimes I wondered what Ginny would have looked like now, I wondered that if she and I would be living together instead of Ron and I. I did this frequently; I'd usually be in bed, but I'd lie for hours with an alternate reality coursing through my head. Ones where Ginny and I were married and were living in a quiet home in the country. There were others in which Ginny and I were simply dating or engaged and both worked and lived in Diagon Alley.  
  
Every daydream was my escape and it caused me as much pain as pleasure. Sometimes Ron or somebody or something would rouse me from my thoughts and I'd be placed rather rudely back into the reality that I exist in and I wouldn't have a chance to say my goodbye.  
  
It was my biggest regret. If I had the power enough I'd go back to that day and I'd at least have woken Ginny and told her that I loved her. Even if I couldn't save her life, I'd go back and let her know how much I cared so that I could rest, knowing that she knew. I know that she knew how deep my feelings for her ran, but sometimes I wonder if I knew before she'd died.  
  
The clock in the hall struck ten and I realized that I'd spent over three hours lost in the past, and that Ron was going to be staying at Hermione's tonight. I stood, stretching as I went, and trudged down the narrow hallway to the last door on the left. I opened the door and flopped down on my bed. With a slight wave of my wand the flat became still and dark.  
  
~*~  
  
Author's Notes: If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be a) very rich, b) very happy, and c) JK Rowling. Only one out of three doesn't cut it. I think everyone has begun to catch on to who is who, but wait! It'll get better. 


	3. Explain It To Me, Please

Learning to be 'Normal' Chapter Three By Jess  
  
~*~ (Alison's POV)  
  
I stared listlessly out of the window during my grammar lesson for the day. A quick glance at the clock told me it was 3:42, a whole two minutes since I last looked and another three minutes until the final bell rang. My professor, Ms. Breor, worked hard every day to put all twenty-four of her students to sleep; personally, I think she likes to see of she can beat her high score.  
  
In the sweltering heat of the language arts classroom, I suddenly longed almost painfully for the chill of the Potions classroom back at Hogwarts. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard the haywire heater turn off and I silently thanked God for small miracles  
  
When I thought I could take it no more, the final bell rang signifying the end of the school day and sheer torture that school could sometimes be and the beginning of the twenty-minute walk home. I gathered my belongings as quickly as possible, slung the heavy bag over my shoulders, and made my way towards the door.  
  
The nostalgia that had settled itself into my mind wouldn't shake and the whole way home to Privet Drive I saw the grounds at Hogwarts instead of the mind-numbingly similar houses placed neatly in row after row.  
  
As I turned onto my street I remembered the time before we came to Privet Drive. Mum, Dad, and I tried to live in some of the Muggle-wizarding communities scattered across Europe. But we couldn't stay, there were still too many Death Eaters running around killing Muggles and Muggle-borns. At one point we had an old wizard in one of the communities we lived in place an Inconspicuous Charm on us. Now no matter how long a Muggle has known the three of us or how close to us they may be, they can never remember our hair color, eye color, height, weight, or complexion.  
  
We left shortly there after; we were mistaken for a group of wayward wizards by a rather shifty looking traveler. Mum didn't want to take the chance, so she packed Dad and I up and hauled us to the only reasonable place she could think of, Muggle London.  
  
It was interesting there. Dad and I learned so much, he knew a lot of it already having been married to a Muggle-born, but I was fascinated by all of the unusual things that carried on the Muggle world. It reminded me then, as it still reminds me now, of someone close to me that was even more entranced by the inner workings of the Muggles.  
  
But once again, we couldn't stay long, Mum insisted on roots and a good school for me. Dad just wanted Mum to stop gripping. So we went on numerous house hunts looking through school systems and price ranges. When we found what we had been searching for, I wasn't nearly as delighted as Mum and Dad were.  
  
I remembered the area from my fourth year, when Professor Dumbledore escorted my brother and I there to retrieve Harry Potter to take him away from his wretched family. We hadn't been long at all, but still the Dursleys were dreadful to all of us. It upset me immensely to see how cruel they were to him. They yelled and said things that would make a sailor blush. Harry scooted out of there like a dog being scolded with his tail between his legs. I walked right up to the foul-mouthed little porker and slapped his extraordinarily chubby face. Which of course turned into a full- fledged fight once he opened his mouth to insult me. Professor Dumbledore had to pry me away from Dudley Dursley and keep me held to his side for a full five minutes before I calmed down enough to even pretend to be apologetic.  
  
The memory was there when Mr. and Mrs. Dursley came over in our first week to welcome us to the neighborhood. Mum had blanched when she opened the door and called out a startled 'Petunia!' Dad had to pull her aside to remind her that we were hiding. Mum chalked it up to recognizing her from a gardening show a few years back. Mrs. Dursley went along it and went straight into informing Mum of all the latest gossip. I glared at them with looks that didn't go unnoticed by my parents through dinner and stormed up to my room once I had cleared my plate from the table.  
  
Vernon and Petunia still come over or invite us over every Wednesday for dinner. Sometimes they bring Dudley and I enjoy watching him squirm. I think a part of him recognizes me as the one who beat him up, because he's always nervous and skittish around me.  
  
When I opened the door to number 5 Privet Drive a number of things assaulted me at once; the smell of the beginnings of dinner, one of Mum's CD's drifting about in it's slow melodious way, and Dad's cigar smoke coming from the study. I smiled at what had become so comforting and similar in just two years. I realized with a start how much I'd grown to love my family since I met them. I lingered for a moment more then turned on heel and bounded up the stairs to my room.  
  
In my desk drawer was a notebook full of small pieces of paper, every piece covered in a variety of colors. Each one held at least one person, though it was more common to find a large group of people, and almost every head was covered with fiery red hair. A lot of them were pictures of photographs as I remembered them from my family album at my old house. I treated the notebook like the photo album it could have been and smiled at the memories each once held.  
  
I pulled out the one I was currently working on and stared at it a minute. On the far left there was a grown man with longer red hair tied back to expose an earring that would get him a lecture or four from his mother. Next to him was an unlikely pair of men. One with shorter red hair and a carefree expression and another with red hair just a touch longer, glasses, and a very serious expression. And on the far right was a set of boys that were identical in every aspect, right down to the mischievous glint in their eyes. Kneeling near the bottom were two teens, one that standing could have towered over almost everyone, and a girl with long red hair and a shy smile.  
  
I grabbed the kit of oil pastels from under my desk and tied my hair back with the elastic on my wrist. I settled myself down on the folding chair in the back garden and began to color.  
  
~*~ (Harry's POV)  
  
I glanced up at the house that was never a home and shook my head in exasperation. The Dursley's never failed to amaze me. I'd received an owl from a Muggle post office that had no return name, just an address. But whom it was from was unmistakable just from that address, 4 Privet Drive. They said it was urgent and that if I ever wanted to repay them for everything they'd done for me, then I'd come as quickly as my unnaturalness could get me there. They needed me to make a love potion so that Dudley could get married some day.  
  
So here I was to make them some strong flavored tea to pass as a love potion, and I seriously considered turning around now and going back to Hermione's for dinner. But I knew they'd never stop hounding me until I produced what they wanted, so here I was. I padded cautiously up the front walk but was stopped from a voice next door.  
  
"Hello there, are you looking for the Dursley's?"  
  
I turned and eyed the woman who spoke; she was watering her begonias and wore a baseball cap with her long auburn ponytail pulled through the back. Crossing the Dursley's lawn to hers, I nodded. She smiled pleasantly at me and her gray eyes twinkled. "They aren't home right now. They've gone to the market to get a dessert for dinner here. Can I ask why you're calling? I can tell Petunia when she comes home."  
  
"I'm. uhm... her nephew. She called me to come over, but I can come back when she is home."  
  
The woman dropped the gardening hose and her jaw fell. "H-her nephew?"  
  
She seemed to mentally shake herself and retrieved the hose. "In that case you're welcome for dinner. Go on in and get yourself freshened up a bit. We'll be eating as soon as the Dursley's arrive. Your cousin is in the back with my daughter, Alison. My name is Lydia Clairmore and my husband is Jacob. He'd be in the kitchen preparing the feast."  
  
Lydia resumed her watering while I stepped into the house. Along the walls in the hall were a couple family portraits. They all seemed to be fairly recent, within the past year or two. As Lydia described, a middle-aged man with messy blond hair stood over a plate covered in pork chops and chicken breasts. He glanced up at me and gazed at me cautiously.  
  
"Can I help you?"  
  
"Uhm. no thank you. Your wife invited me in. I'm Vernon and Petunia Dursley's nephew."  
  
I received another startled reaction; Jacob dropped the chicken breast he was marinating back onto the plate and splattering juice all over his 'Kiss the Cook' apron.  
  
"Can you tell me how to get into the back garden?"  
  
He pointed wordlessly and I moved slowly, as if afraid any sudden movements would cause him to jump at me.  
  
When I stepped onto the porch I saw Dudley leaning his chair back while he played a video game of some sort. The girl, Alison, sat with a pair of headphones over her ears that were clearly attached to her CD player. She mouthed the words and colored on something I couldn't see. I moved to get a better look and was stunned by what I saw. She was drawing the Weasleys. I could see all of them clear as day, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny.  
  
"Harry! What are you doing here?"  
  
Dudley's call had startled the young woman I was leaning over. After shooting him a nasty glare she looked up at me and gave a startled yelp. She scrambled away from me like I had grown three or four more heads right in front of her and knocked over her colors in the process. She tripped over a moderate sized rock and started to fall until I grabbed her arms. At that point both her Mum and Dad were on the patio and I realized how the situation might look to her startled parents. I opened my mouth to explain but I first heard a Stupefy then everything was black.  
  
~*~  
  
When I woke up one of two things happened at once. Albus Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley each grabbed a hand and pulled me to my feet and my aunt stormed over and tugged on my ear.  
  
"What were you thinking? Coming over here to our dear friends' home with your. your. unnaturalness."  
  
I shrugged as best I could with Aunt Petunia still clamped firmly to my ear. I saw the Clairmores on the other side of the garden. Jacob was holding Lydia's shoulder and she looked ready to tear something to bits. I silently hoped it wasn't me. Alison was watching me with a fearful fascination. Aunt Petunia hissed again before letting me go. "I'll deal with you later, boy."  
  
Dumbledore took one step toward the Clairmores. "We received a notice of unregistered magic. Which one of you is a witch or wizard?"  
  
Aunt Petunia shrieked from the other side of the garden, "He is. he's the one. My nephew is the freak around here."  
  
Dumbledore plastered on an inpatient smile. "Mrs. Dursley, your nephew is already registered with the Order and I hardly think he stunned himself. Now if you'd kindly return home I'm sure these people will catch up with you later."  
  
The Dursleys took offence to being spoken to in such a tone and I bit down a laugh that threatened to erupt. They huffed out of the garden and upon returning home, slammed their door so we'd know they were upset with us.  
  
Mr. Weasley stepped in front of the girl and asked, "Do you know who cast the spell? Who is a witch or wizard here?"  
  
She nodded in affirmation. "We all are."  
  
He smiled. "I see. I need you all to cast a spell for me so that we can get you registered down at the office. Alison Clairmore, correct?"  
  
Alison shook her head. "Alison Clairmore is a Muggle."  
  
The smile faded from Mr. Weasley's face. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand."  
  
Lydia took a step forward and put her arm around her daughter. "We aren't really the Clairmores, or at least we weren't. These names are our aliases."  
  
Dumbledore nodded, cast a Recording Charm, and handed it to Lydia. "Tell me your real name and cast a spell so we can have you registered, please."  
  
Alison put her hand out to stop her mother. "Sir, if we tell you our real names will it change anything? Will you make us split up? I'm not sure of my mum or dad's real names and they don't know mine. But I don't want things to change. Promise me it won't."  
  
Dumbledore smiled at the girl and nodded. "I promise."  
  
She nodded and let her mother continue. "Avis!"  
  
A flurry of pure white doves shot out of the end of the wand and she handed it back to Dumbledore. He muttered "Finite Incantatem" and the Recording Charm ended. "Now, your real name please."  
  
Lydia looked from her husband back to my former professor. She took a deep breath, seemingly steeling herself from whatever may come. "Lily Potter."  
  
I gasped and dropped to my knees. She smiled weakly at me while Mr. Weasley handed his wand to her husband. He shouted "Accio glasses!"  
  
A pair of black rimmed glasses shot through the open sliding glass door. He took out a pair of contacts and placed the glasses on his nose. His once blue eyes now shone a warm brown and he looked to me. Lydia, or should I say Mum, took out her contacts too and the gray eyes that were so warm and friendly to me earlier now were green again.  
  
Tears flooded my eyes and I stood, rushing to them. I didn't care how childish I felt right then, it didn't matter. I had my Mum and Dad back. They hugged me close and Mum murmured how much she loved me and Dad told me how fine of a young man I was. It was almost everything I'd ever hoped for in my entire life. Only Ginny could make everything complete.  
  
Alison had taken a step away from the couple when I had run to them and was now off collecting her things. Dumbledore turned on her expectantly but she shook her head. "Oh no, I want to know what's going on. Four out the six people here are supposed to be dead. I watched," she pointed to Mr. Weasley, "you and," she pointed to me, "you die. And I know the Potters died the Halloween before I was born. This is impossible."  
  
I grudgingly stepped away from my parents and pulled her aside. "Let me explain."  
  
~*~  
  
Author's Notes: I almost think that I'm rushing the whole reunion thing, but then I reminded myself that this isn't just about Harry finding Ginny and his parents and living happily ever after. It's about everything in between too. Also, I want to thank Jewels, my beta, for putting up with me slaughtering the English language. Oh, and by the way, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did do you honestly think I'd be writing fanfiction? 


	4. Torn Between Two Worlds

Learning to be 'Normal' Chapter Four By Jess  
  
~*~ (Harry's POV-Flashback)  
  
I opened my eyes and closed them again instantly. The bright sunlight shone on the bright orange posters on all of the walls in the Ron's bedroom making the room brighter than it should have been. A startled cry and a chair scraping along the floor from a few feet to my cots right shot my eyes open once more and I was forced to adjust to the light.  
  
Molly Weasley stood with her head out of the door that separated our room and the rest of the busy house. Soon she returned with a warm smile on her face and Arthur at her heels. They both looked tired and a lot older than I remember them being, and it was my fault.  
  
Nearly two months since the early June attack at Hogwarts and the end of school and I was still being treated like a fragile ornament on the edge of the mantle. I never understood why it was I that was ready to fall apart and not everyone. I wasn't the only one that died that day. I wasn't the only one that suffered from the loss of the youngest and only Weasley daughter.  
  
Every night Ron calls out in his sleep for the little sister he feels he should have protected better. Mr. Weasley holes himself up in his work shed after every supper with the family photo albums he must know by heart now. And more than once I've caught Mrs. Weasley with nine plates for supper instead of eight. Fred and George started their business but have a picture of their sister on the wall behind the register. Bill, Charlie, and Percy come back to the Burrow an awful lot too. It seems that his sister's alleged death made him more tolerant of his siblings' humor, the twins especially.  
  
I still have nightmares, but they're no longer warnings. It seems that everyone that died in that fight has come back to haunt my dreams. All of them are mournful; particularly the ones in which Cho and Cedric come to visit. But they aren't all dreadfully unpleasant, but the ones when Draco comes to 'chat' with me always end violently and I wake up panting and in a cold sweat.  
  
Ginny's never been in my dreams and I like to think of it as a sign that she's not dead.  
  
Mrs. Weasley waved a hand in front of my face and I realized that I must have spaced out. She smiled again. "Are you hungry, Harry dear?"  
  
After a moments consideration I nodded. "Where's Ron?"  
  
Mr. Weasley laughed from his place in the doorway. "Harry, it's nearly three o'clock in the afternoon. Ron was up and ten at the latest."  
  
I glanced down at my watch in shock. Three o'clock? How had I let the time go like that? Shaking myself, I stood and grabbed my dressing gown from the back of Ron's door and made my way sleepily down the stairs with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. A meal was prepared for me and I ate, albeit groggily.  
  
The house was quiet, too quiet, and I wondered where Ron and the twins had gone off to. When I'd cleared my plate from the table and banished it to the sink to start washing, I bounded up the stairs to claim the shower as my own for ten minutes or so.  
  
As the scalding hot water pounded onto my head and shoulders, I thought about Ginny and how this summer might have gone had she not. disappeared, and that turned into about how to find her. I'd put a tracer on her magical signature last week and started looking for old records of anything that could be used to trace my parents. I rested my forehead against the cool tiles of the shower wall. What was I missing? What haven't I done?  
  
Absentmindedly reaching for the towel I'd placed on the sink, I stepped out of the shower into the light fog that has accumulated in the small bathroom. A clean pair of robes had mysteriously found their way to the floor in front of the door. I shook my head and smiled at Mrs. Weasley, she'll probably always be looking out for me.  
  
Clean, dressed, and smelling fresh as a daisy, I grabbed my Firebolt and went in search of Ron. Maybe he and the twins would be up to a two on two game of Quidditch. But in my hunt I found that the three were no where to be seen, and in further exploration I found that I couldn't find any of the Weasleys.  
  
My mind began to race and I began to pray to anyone who would listen to help me find my 'family' safe and sound. I didn't know what I would do with the unruly bunch of redheads, they were everything I had these days and to lose them would be too much. I opened the backdoor, intent on finding everyone quickly and unharmed.  
  
"SURPRISE!"  
  
I stumbled back and my jaw dropped in shock. The entire garden was decorated with streamers and twinkle lights. A magically extended table sat in the center of it all with a large cake and ample amounts of food and plates. All of my family and friends were dressed in their best clothes, all holding presents and smiling and laughing brightly. I even spotted a certain bushy-haired best friend of mine with a hand in that of my other best friend's. It was she and Ron that approached me first, lying their presents on a table I hadn't seen before.  
  
Hermione hugged me tightly and I was just too astounded to do anything but stand there. "Happy birthday, Harry."  
  
Ron clapped a hand on my shoulder and pulled me into a hug as well once Hermione moved; something that was a tad bit uncharacteristic of Ron. "Happy birthday, mate."  
  
They stepped back and the picture they made was unforgettable. I found myself beginning to smile. All of these people were here for me. It was amazing and the love and kinship radiating from the excessively large group was intense.  
  
My heart clenched when I remembered that there were only eight redheads present when there really should have been nine, possibly ten. My head swam and my vision blurred. I tried to force these feeling away, make everything okay again, but I couldn't. No one moved the entire time I struggled with my internal battle, but when my lower lip trembled, my family came forward and engulfed me in a large group hug. I cried then, for the first time since the day I found out that the love of my life was gone. But I didn't cry alone.  
  
~*~ (Alison's POV)  
  
".and so here we are."  
  
My thoughts were spinning and I cast my eyes to the ground to mask the turmoil inside. Alive, all of them except for her. me. And Mum and Dad were James and Lily Potter? I suddenly felt lost and very vulnerable. I loved the life I'd left behind, all of my brothers and my parents. But I was comfortable, I'd let go already and as much as I missed everything, I didn't want to go back.  
  
Albus Dumbledore's black, pointed shoes came into my view. "Young lady, we need your name and a spell, please."  
  
I raised my eyes to him and he peered at my closely behind those half moon spectacles. There was no where for me to hide from those ever knowing eyes of his, so I took the wand that was being offered to me and clutched with my right hand. "Lumos."  
  
The end of the wand lit up and at the same time something beeped on Harry's watch. He fumbled with it, muttering all the while about an incompetent ministry. All at once I felt trapped, my breath quickened and my heart raced. I needed to get out. Dumbledore blocked my way out and I knew what he wanted and he nodded his head to show that he thought I was on the right track. I steeled myself for what I knew was coming. "My real name is Virginia Weasley."  
  
Two heads whipped to mine and both of their eyes seemed to threaten to pop out of their head. Harry's mouth opened and closed, as if he was looking for the words. My father's eyes filled with tears and he started for me with his arms outstretched, but I couldn't let him get there. Everything was so raw, so fresh, so I ducked out from under his arms and ran into the house.  
  
I stumbled up the stairs, tears impairing my vision and I could hear Harry close on my heels but I had a head start and I reached my room before he could stop me. I shut the door behind me and locked it as I leaned against it, panting for air. Harry was on the other side, cursing and yelling for me to open. Finally it seemed to occur to him that he was a wizard with a wand and he said the unlocking charm, "Alohamora", but I'd anticipated this and kept my finger of the lock to lock it back in place once it was opened.  
  
He leant against the door and slid down, he was giving up and briefly I felt bad for him and what I could tell this was doing to him. My hand fell away from the door handle and I fell to the floor and sat cross-legged in front of my door, just a foot or two away from Harry. I could almost feel his presence in the air and I brushed my fingers against the smooth wood. I bit my lip and choked back sobs; the effect it was having on Harry was amplified ten-fold inside of myself.  
  
I wanted nothing more than to run downstairs and jump into my father's arms and have him carry me home. To sit at a table full of redheads and go nearly deaf from the medley of voices, laughter, clinking plates and cups. But that was part of my problem, as much as I wanted to go back, I'd already moved on. I had a new family, one that loved me for me, not because I was born to them. I fingered lightly the picture I'd rescued earlier, the one with the Weasley kids. Fresh tears surfaced and I let them fall.  
  
"Gin? Gin, come on. Let me in. please."  
  
My head snapped up and I struggled to find the words to answer him. "I-I can't, Harry."  
  
"Why not, Gin? We've been looking for you for years. We. I miss you. Life has been boring without you around."  
  
"I thought you died."  
  
"Most people think that you're dead. But you aren't. You're just on the other side of the door. Please let me in."  
  
I shook my head even though I knew he couldn't see. "Ginny Weasley is dead, Harry. I buried her inside of myself two years ago. I'm Alison Clairmore now."  
  
I heard him sigh in frustration; things weren't going the way he'd planned at all. "Gin, please. Come home."  
  
"What about school?"  
  
"We can re-enroll you at Hogwarts to finish out your last year. It won't be hard."  
  
"No, what about school here?"  
  
"You want to finish Muggle schooling?"  
  
"I don't know. I think I want to stay here. I don't want things to change."  
  
"Gin, I'm going to take my parents back to the wizarding world. I'm going to re-introduce them to Remus and Sirius. I'm going to take them to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. I'm going to find them a house in Hogsmeade. Things are going to change even if you don't want them to. Make the most of it."  
  
Tears flooded my vision and constricted my throat. I was going to lose everything all over again. I heard him get up and shuffle down the stairs and soon afterwards voices drifted up from the kitchen. Trying to clue myself in, I opened the door and sat in the doorway. The first prominent was my mum's, or really Lily Potter's.  
  
"I want nothing more but than to go back and be with everyone again. To be with my son, but Alison."  
  
My father interrupted her. "Her name is Ginny."  
  
I could almost see the expression of incredulously on my 'mum's' face. "Her schooling isn't finished, her friends and surrogate family are here. We can't uproot her, you saw how she reacted today."  
  
Once again, my father interjected. "I want my daughter back. Today. She needs to go home and be with her mother, her father, and her brothers. You have no right to keep her from us."  
  
Dumbledore made a few soothing sounds that might have made more sense if I'd been downstairs. But as it was I was upstairs listening in on everyone else trying to decide my life for me.  
  
"Listen, everyone, this isn't easy for any of us. I suggest we all go home, get a good night's sleep and return to discuss this with Alison or Ginny, however you may know her. Arthur, Harry, come now, we'll return around noon tomorrow."  
  
I heard three distinctive pops and the trio was gone. Something held me to that doorway, to listen a little longer. Once again, it was my 'mum' that I heard first.  
  
"Oh James, what are we going to do? I love Alison, but Harry. Did you see him, James? He's grown up so wonderfully and he looks just like you. I want to know him; I want to know how he drinks his tea and what his favorite color is. I want to know how he grew up and what his greatest fears are."  
  
My heart palpitated and I started to feel guilty. I kept them from knowing Harry all of these years. Granted that I hadn't a clue that they were Lily and James Potter and that I'd thought that Harry was dead, but it was still my fault. They lost even more precious time with the son they never knew because of me.  
  
"Lils, we will know him. Just because we love Alison doesn't mean we can't love him. Everything will be okay, it'll all work out. What do you say you and I head on up to bed now?"  
  
After shutting off the lights and locking the doors, the two ambled up the stairs hand in hand. They froze upon seeing me, neither one looked like they knew what to say to me. So, I said something to them.  
  
"I think we need to go home."  
  
~*~  
  
Author's Notes: I'm feeling pretty sad. why? This chapter makes me sad for some reason or another. Anyway, more will be up soon (let's keep our fingers crossed). Oh, and Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. Maybe I'll get the full rights and titles in my Easter basket! What do you guys think? 


	5. Fighting All Around

Learning to be 'Normal' Chapter Five By Jess  
  
Quick Author's note: This chapter may be a bit confusing. Try to keep in mind that Ginny is Alison, Mum is Lily and Dad is James while Mother is Molly and Father is Arthur. I'd hate for people to be scratching their heads thinking 'Huh?' while reading.  
  
~*~  
(Ginny's POV)  
  
I leaned against the doorframe to my room as I watched Dad shrink all of my belongings and pack them into a single box. He kept turning back at me, as if waiting for me to stop him and tell him that I'd changed my mind. Mum was downstairs packing the kitchen. I'd just come up from there; she'd been giving me funny glances as well.  
  
It was strange, knowing that I'd been living with Harry's parents for two years. I probably knew them better than even he did. And while I didn't want to go back and leave all I'd come to love, I knew that it was what they needed. They needed magic and the wizarding world they'd grown up in. They needed Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, as friends and as a way to deal with the knowledge that they'd been betrayed, to learn the whole truth of that night. But most of all, I knew they needed Harry, almost as much as I did. They needed to know who their son is, and to come to grips with the many years they'd missed with him.  
  
The doorbell rang and peeled myself from the wall and headed down the stairs hoping and praying that I wouldn't get another scene like yesterday.  
  
~*~  
  
(Harry's POV- Flashback)  
  
Around half past noon I apparated to the front yard of 5 Privet Drive with Dumbledore, Arthur, and Molly. The latter was fairly composed compared to the hysterical mess she'd been last night upon receiving the news that her only daughter was alive. I strode confidently up to the door and rang the bell; the others were close behind me.  
  
A bubbly brunette danced up to the door and pulled it open; she froze for a moment, her expression wide and scared. But all at once it was as if a switch had been flicked and she smiled, stepped back, and invited us all inside.  
  
We stepped into the lightly air-conditioned hallway and Molly stepped forward to grasp the girl's arm. She looked up at Molly, startled by her actions and the desperate look upon her face.  
  
"Please, you have to help me. I'm looking for my daughter, Ginny. Do you know her?"  
  
The girl stared a moment more before looking back at me. I knew what she was asking without words. She wanted to know why Molly didn't know, why none of us had come to her rescue. I shook my head in response and she turned back to Molly, stammering incoherently.  
  
Arthur put his hand on his wife's shoulder and spoke in soothing tones. "Molly, this is Alison."  
  
It took Mrs. Weasley a moment or two before she let out a startled gasp, scaring Ginny back a few steps. I couldn't see Molly or Arthur's faces but Ginny's was terrified. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and they darted from face to face. Her mouth opened and closed like a beached fish but no sound was produced. Molly took a step forward and raised her arms to her daughter, but Ginny backed away. I could taste the disappointment, anger, frustration, and fear on my tongue; I could feel it on my fingertips.  
  
Tension filled the air, suffocating all of us but all were too afraid to move and break the mood, no matter how horrible. My mum and dad came bursting in then, causing all eyes to snap to them like magnets.  
  
"Alison, dear, who was."  
  
My mum trailed off as she stared at the lot of us. I saw Molly straighten as she turned the pent up emotions onto my mother.  
  
"Her name is Ginny."  
  
Arthur put his arm around Molly's shoulder, visibly supporting his wife and her argument. Dumbledore slid up next to me and whispered in my ear to keep the row under control and that he was returning to the school. Meanwhile, Ginny was slowly scooting out of the middle of the 'battlefield' and towards me, much to my delight and dismay, and my Mum was searching for something to say. Molly cut her off.  
  
"I don't know why you think you can keep her here. She is not your daughter, she never was and never will be, not by any stretch of the imagination."  
  
I'd never heard Molly talk so tough to anyone. Under normal circumstances Molly would simply adore just about anyone. But these weren't normal circumstances. My mum gazed at her feet before narrowing her eyes and looking up.  
  
"But what is Harry to you?"  
  
"He's like my son."  
  
I smiled; Molly didn't even think about her response. She was feeding into my mother's obvious case.  
  
"And Allison, Ginny rather, is like my daughter. I don't need blood ties to love her like that. Just like Harry doesn't need to be your flesh and blood for you to treat him as one of your own. I don't want to keep her from you, that isn't my problem, I'm just not willing to give up on her entirely."  
  
Molly sputtered and put her hands upon her hips. I stepped back; this wasn't going to be pretty.  
  
"Well! If that's the case then why wasn't my daughter returned to me last night?"  
  
I felt rather than saw Ginny get upset quickly. She placed herself next to her mother and father.  
  
"Because I was scared last night! They both tried to take into consideration the promise that everyone made me, the promise that things wouldn't change. I didn't know if I could handle losing everything again. And I am not a possession to be haggled over! My feelings in this count! Has anyone asked me whether or not I want to leave or stay?"  
  
Her voice rose with each word until she was shouting at the top of her lungs. Molly was clearly flustered and I could see both daughter and mother's eyes swimming with tears.  
  
"But Ginny, darling, don't you want to see your bothers? Bill's finally found himself a girlfriend and Charlie is married to an Irish witch and about to give me a grandbaby. Percy is engaged and the twins have started a very successful, though silly, joke shop. And Ron is sharing a flat with Harry and he's still dating Hermione. Don't you miss any of that? Don't you want to share in any of that? And your father is running for Minister of Magic this year.We all just miss you."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Well, it's settled then. You'll come home tonight. Now about that hair of yours."  
  
Ginny's once downcast eyes now stared imploringly at her mother. Molly paid her no heed, and I could see that Ginny wasn't happy about it. Molly cast a restoration charm on Ginny and my parents, turning them back to their original coloring.  
  
I could see it now, very definitely, why everyone said I looked exactly like my father. Even the way he moved was similar to the way I moved. And my mum was beautiful; there was no other way to describe it. She couldn't be too much younger than Mrs. Weasley, but there was no comparison.  
  
My mum bit her lip and turned her gaze to me. I smiled broadly despite my anguish. Ginny sighed and examined her fiery red locks while my father ran a hand through his messy black locks.  
  
My eyes settled on Ginny again and for once her chocolate brown eyes clearly met mine. I took a step forward and placed a hand upon her cheek, the romantic tension building. And it was then that the two sets of parents, both feeling paternal feeling toward both children, came forward and separated the two of us. My dad put a hand to my shoulder and pulled me away while Ginny's mum grabbed her round the middle and swept her away and into a hug.  
  
None of us expected her to struggle as she did, after all, most of us felt the situation to have been resolved. But not Ginny, she wrenched herself out of her mother's arms and glared at her parents.  
  
"I'm not ready for you yet! How many times must I back away and pull away for you to get that? I don't want to leave tonight and you know what? You can't make me! I'm seventeen, a legal adult in the wizarding realm. So bugger off, I'll come back when I'm ready!"  
  
Her face was red from shouting and her chest heaved in anger. Without another word she turned about and stormed up the stairs, making sure to slam the door behind her. Molly's eyes filled with tears and a great sob escaped before she apparated away, Arthur following close behind. And that left me alone in the foyer with my mum and dad.  
  
I stared up the staircase, silently willing Ginny to come back down and kiss me like I knew she'd been about to. A hand was placed on my arm and I followed it up to its owner, Mum. She wasn't making a sound but I knew what she wanted. She didn't want to make the same mistake that Mrs. Weasley just had and pull me into something I wasn't ready for.  
  
But that's where Ginny and I differed, I'd seen enough separation and heart ache to be apprehensive. I threw my arms around Mum's middle and held on tightly. I felt Dad's arms go around the both of us and I'm not sure who started it but before I knew it the three of us were rocking one another and crying our hearts out.  
  
~*~  
(Ginny's POV- Back to present)  
  
When I opened the door a very angry looking Petunia Dursley stood on my doorstep. A look of bewilderment crossed her features and I remembered the hair. I grinned cheekily at the woman; it was payback time.  
  
"Why hello Mrs. Dursley, won't you come in?"  
  
She sputtered and asked, "Alison?"  
  
I nodded, "Yes, and at the same time no. My real name is Ginny. You see, we've all returned to our true-selves."  
  
Once again Mrs. Dursley got angry. "So it's true then, that... that man yesterday was right? There are freaks living here."  
  
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Now, now, is that anyway to talk to family?" I accented the last word, hoping to resurface the connection I knew Mrs. Dursley had made about 'Lydia' and Lily looking similar.  
  
Mum came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dishtowel. She didn't pause when she saw her sister. "Hello Petunia, how are you today?"  
  
Mrs. Dursley whirled around and gasped so hard she began to choke. "You! But I-I though y-you were d-dead!"  
  
Mum shrugged. "I was, but now I'm not. Would you like to join me in the kitchen for a bit of tea?"  
  
Mrs. Dursley shook her head wildly. "I want you out! You do NOT belong here, do you understand?"  
  
"Don't worry, we'll be leaving tonight to rejoin the wizarding world. Tea?"  
  
Mrs. Dursley made a noncommittal grunt and marched out of our house. I waited until the door shut to begin laughing. Mum simply shrugged again and went back to the kitchen.  
  
Author's notes: GASP! I've been soooooo lazy about my stories. I've been so busy beta-ing other people's stories (Banshee- In A Drunken Rage and lemonskittle and her stories) that I simply didn't have time to write. That and I sorta lost inspiration for this story, see... my eyes have been opened to other options. Like I used to be a straight-laced Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, and James/Lily. Now my absolute favorite is Draco/Ginny. (No worries though, this fic will remain a H/G). 


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